Buttercream Bump Off Read Free

she looked in the pantry for the specialty items. Peppermint extract, check. Chocolate, in all shapes and sizes, check.
    “No, I think we’re good,” she said. “I’m going to grab a shower. Give me fifteen, and we can get started.”
    “You got it,” Angie said. “You do realize, though, that the overstuffed cupcake has issued a challenge that can’t be ignored.”
    “Don’t you worry,” Mel said. “It won’t be. I promise.”

Two

    Mel pulled her pink bib apron over her head. Fairy Tale Cupcakes was scrawled in glittery script over the top, while the bottom half sported three roomy pockets. Angie wore a matching one. The aprons were as close to a uniform as they ventured.
    The mint chocolate chip cupcakes had been baked and cooled, and it was now time for the icing. Mel had mixed two batches of peppermint icing, one white and one red. She and Angie then worked in tandem, icing the tops of the cupcakes to look like round peppermint candies.
    Angie went first with the white icing. Using medium pressure on the frosting bag, she started in the center and moved the tip out to the edge of the cupcake, allowing the stripe to get wider as she veered to the right, giving it a small curve. Mel followed her lead, filling in the bare spots with red stripes. Mel had thought this would be a good project for their couples, as they would have to work together.
    When they finished the last of the twenty-four cupcakes, Angie went back and plopped a shiny silver Hershey’s Kiss in the middle of each one.
    “Ta da,” she said. “Kiss Me Cupcakes. Hey, if the Bickersons start fighting tonight, we can always rename these Kill Me Cupcakes.”
    “Funny,” Mel said with a smile.
    Angie hefted the tray of finished cupcakes onto her shoulder while Mel opened the door to the walk-in cooler for her. She then started to clean out her mixers. She had an industrial Hobart and a smaller pink KitchenAid, both of which she would run back to save if the building ever caught fire. Yes, they were covered by insurance, but they were also her babies.
    The rest of the day passed by in a blur of buttercream. Three special orders were picked up, one for a mah-jongg club, one for a Girl Scout Daisy troop, and one for the knitting club that met at the yarn shop down the street. Mat Matazzoni, a favorite customer, stopped by to pick up a dozen Calamity Creams, leaving their display case looking empty, which they didn’t mind a bit. Between the regulars and the steady stream of foot traffic from tourists visiting Old Town Scottsdale, Mel and Angie rarely had a chance to sit down, catch their breath, or even take a potty break. It appeared that despite Olivia’s attempt to steal their customers, Fairy Tale Cupcakes was doing just fine, thank you very much.
    “So, have you thought of how we’re going to put a crimp in Olivia’s cupcake?” Angie asked as she joined Mel in the kitchen to prep for their class.
    “Funny you should ask,” Mel said. “I did have an idea.”
    “Let ’er rip, former marketing genius,” Angie said.
    She was referring to the years before Mel was a pastry chef. As a freshly minted alum from UCLA, Mel had jumped onto the fast track at a marketing firm in Los Angeles. She was a natural, thinking up new and creative ways to move products, and her clients loved her. Too bad she had loathed all things corporate and lived only for her daily sweets fix at her local bakery, which became the catalyst she needed to ditch the job and pursue opening her own bakery. Still, she had skills.
    “All I ask is that you keep an open mind,” Mel said. She circled the steel worktable, putting out the mixing bowls that their couples would be using.
    “Uh-oh.” Angie looked concerned as she placed different-size cups with the ingredients already measured in them next to the bowls.
    “What?”
    “The last time you asked me to have an open mind, you set me up on a blind date with a guy who smelled like onions,” Angie said.
    “Barry is